Spectator

Weekly highlights for arts and entertainment in the Triangle

7 WEDNESDAY Even though Indy editors might like to cut out a few adjectives, we still think that TEEFMSSSPTIC: IYSTOYNSTB (The Exciting, Entertaining, Funny, Musical, Sometimes Shocking, Sometimes Poignant Transactors Improv Co.: If You've Seen Them Once You've Never Seen Them Before) is worth checking out. SLAPFTTDOAWN (Sounds Like A Pretty Fun Thing To Do On A Wednesday Night). Tonight through Saturday, 8:15 p.m. at Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster St., Durham. 682-3343, www.manbitesdogtheater.org. $15 Fri. & Sat., $10 Thu., pay what you like ($5 minimum) Wed.

8 THURSDAY Tonight it's punk and more punk (pop)! Blackstrap and Dom Casual will rock and reverb Nightlight with all the passion and kitsch they can muster. 405 1/2 W Rosemary St, Chapel Hill. 933-5550.

9 FRIDAY If your first week back to work after the sweet, sweet holidays has got you down, order up a steaming cup o' joe, settle into a chair at the Open Eye Cafe and let the angelic singer-songwriter Shana Scudder make it all better. 8 p.m.,100 E Main St, Carrboro. 968-9410. Free.

10 SATURDAY Real Hip-Hop heads know that revolution spins at more than one speed, and they're calling on all MCs, DJs, breakers, poppers, lockers, graf cats to gather for the first Hip Hop Against Racist War meeting. They'll plan shows, protest, films and ryhmes as edutainment about the wars abroad and at home. B-girls, not bombs! 6 p.m., 902 Arnette Ave, Durham. 680-3181, www.bluetriangle-nc.org.

11 SUNDAY Get to know your neighbors: The Changing Face of Mexico is a slide talk presented by Sharon Mujica, Director of Outreach for the Duke-UNC Program in Latin American Studies. 3 p.m., Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Dr. 968-2780. And Juanita Darling, UNC-CH doctoral candidate, will discuss the role that global activists are playing in keeping the peace in Local Action Goes Global in Chiapas. 5 p. m., CHICLE, 412 W Franklin St, Chapel Hill. 933-0398, www.chi-cle.com.

12 MONDAY Local designers Holly Aiken, Mary Michele and Scarf-alicious are showing their crafty wares for a few more days at Designbox's Brand Fandango II show. 315 S Bloodworth Ave, Raleigh. www.designbox.us. Mon.-Fri., 10 am-5 pm or by appointment.

13 TUESDAY North Carolina's Haven Kimmel, author of A Girl Named Zippy, is giving a debut reading of ner new novel, Something Rising (Light and Swift), in which a young woman comes of age in a pool hall. 7 p.m., Regulator Bookshop, 720 Ninth St, Durham. 286-2700.